


30 Days Till I Say...

by Indulgenceahoy



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Family Relations, Fluff, M/M, Some angst, challenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-01-09 09:44:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12273873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indulgenceahoy/pseuds/Indulgenceahoy
Summary: Fell is a coffee shop owner whose brother has recently and suddenly left to live in another city.  The reasons as to why are a mystery to everyone, but its obvious that whatever happened Fell is not taking it very well.   Blue is a college student that stumbles into Fell's life looking for a job.   Through their interaction Fell can tell that not everything is well at home, but Blue is irritatingly  vague about it.  - NOT that Fell cares - NOT out loud, anyway.This is part of the 31 Writing prompts for Flufftober.





	1. Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> College/Coffee Shop AU Yes I know these types of AU's are infamous. I wanted to do something for October, so I'm doing 31 500 to around 1,000 word drabbles that revolve around fluff (mainly) Instead of doing several pairing, however, I'm concentrating on Edgeberry, which is a pair that I have never written in this context.

**Day 1: Meeting**

 

The UnderGround Coffee Shop was very busy that day but it was nothing that Fell couldn’t handle by himself. Still, it was hard to not sorely feel his brother’s absence as he expertly mixed several cups of his most popular caffeinated drinks. In his mind, he ticked off all the requests for each one: One without sugar, one with just a tiny bit of cinnamon, another with nothing but a “whisper” of milk, and another with everything but just a tiny bit of everything, because, of course.

He could do all of this blindfolded with one hand tied behind his back - and it sure felt that way at the moment - but he preferred not to. That’s why he had reluctantly put a HELP WANTED sign outside the shop. While he did have a couple of other monsters to help with the customers, deliveries and cleaning duties, none of them could handle his complicated coffee machines like he or his brother could.

He wished Red had given him more notice before leaving, but it was no secret that his brother didn’t care for the shop as much as Fell did. One day he had just packed a couple of bags and left.

Fell grumbled to himself. Well, there was no point in dwelling on it, he would carry on … like always.

He heard the doorbell jingle as another patron entered his shop. In the past, that sound had indicated money coming in, now it was just an annoying sound in the back of his head. He heard the girl who handled the cash register greet someone and then continued to have a long conversation with someone.

"So chatty." He thought to himself. He would need to have a talk with her. Now that they were short one monster, she really needed to stop wasting time with idle chatter like that.

“Hi!” he heard a young voice say from the other side of the counter. “My name is Blue and …”

“Get in line,” said Fell without looking up from his work.

“But …”

“Nobody skips the line” growled Fell.

“… ok”

Damn college kids.

Fell filled five more orders, barely bothering to read the names on the cups. Most regulars were aware of his temper, so they knew to expect delicious coffee without so much of a glance or a smile from the surly owner of the shop.

He put a steaming cup of salted caramel coffee in front of the next monster in line, but they didn’t grab the cup. Fell turned around annoyed. He was used to new customers changing their minds on their orders. They were usually not welcomed back.

“What’s wrong with your order?” he asked in what he felt was a customer service enough tone of voice.

The “customer” grumped and stood on his toes, so his head, well at least his eyes and nose, were above the raised counter Fell liked to use. To be fair, it was tall for most monsters but it was outright towering for the smaller monster.

“Nothing is wrong! I just didn’t order that” he said and by his eyes Fell could tell he was smiling as he said that.

Fell narrowed his eyes in return. This was a skeleton monster like himself but more on the “round” side than him. His big eye sockets were lit with bright blue magic.

“I. Don’t. Make. Mistakes” said Fell “This is the next order in line”

“Oh! I didn’t say you made a mistake! It’s just that I didn’t order…”

“What did YOU order?” growled Fell louder. Everybody in the coffee shop turned their heads to see what the commotion was about. A couple of monsters behind the blue annoyance took a careful step back.

“I … “ said the monster as he raised the HELP WANTED sign over his head and pointed at it “I’m interested in the job”

Fell blinked at the sign then sighed deeply. “Then why…”

“Um … the lady said that I needed to talk …” said Blue making Fell glare towards the cashier who was actively looking for a place to hide “… to you. And YOU said ….” Fell was now back to glaring at the newcomer “that …. I needed to get … *cough* … in line”

Fell leaned over the counter to get a better look at the sign holder. He was short, but certainly a young adult. His clothes and leather book bag hanging from one of his shoulders screamed “college kid” to him. What he didn’t find, however, was any sign of sarcasm in his facial features. The kid was not trying to make fun of him ... he was honestly just following Fell's directions.

Fell growled again. He reached over and plucked the sign from Blue’s hands. “The position is no longer available”

“Uh .. but…”

“NEXT!” called out Fell making the line of monsters behind Blue flinch.

“Mr. Fell, I just …”

“Stop wasting my time!” growled Fell again and turned around to take care of the increasing pile of orders coming in.

“Ok. Fine” he heard behind him and what was possibly stomping before he heard the door open and close again.

Fell just huffed to himself and concentrated on his job, pushing the event out of his head for the rest of the day.

After the shop had been closed for the day, he still spent another 2 hours going over bills and new orders for special kinds of beans and other ingredients. He prided himself with only getting the very best but it was a difficult task and, it required a lot of negotiation on his part.

This was what he was good at.

He had connections. He knew how to get what he needed. He just hadn’t had the time to dedicate himself lately, which had unfortunately meant having some of his suppliers take advantage of his distracted state.

Maybe he should consider training one of his long-term employees on using his highly specialized machines. Maybe it wouldn't be as big of a disaster as it was last time. It would certainly free him up. However, he couldn’t afford the machine being broken because of a clumsy mistake by an amateur. Especially since it was his brother who had done most of the repair work up to recently.

No, he would just have to take care of things himself.

It wasn’t until midnight that he decided to go home. Whatever he hadn’t finished could wait until tomorrow. On his way out of the shop, he spotted the HELP WANTED sign on the counter. He felt a tiny bit of remorse for snapping at the younger skeleton but he dismissed it. That young monster should’ve known better than to disrupt his workflow.

He grabbed the sign and placed on the window. He may not want it, but he did need help. Perhaps he would have better luck tomorrow.

As he locked the back door of his shop, he heard a small throat clearing sound. He turned around and saw the small skeleton monster push himself from the wall. From the looks of it, he had been sitting against it. He fidgeted a bit before he managed a small “Hi again”

 _Fan.Tas.Tic._ Thought Fell to himself.


	2. Awkward Conversations

**Day 2: Awkward Conversations**

  
Fell couldn’t believe, he really couldn’t. In fact, he decided that he was NOT going to deal with it at all and walked past Blue towards his car.

“Oh … hey!” said Blue rushing after him “Wait a second!”

Ok. It wasn’t going to be that easy to just leave. Fell stopped and turned around so suddenly, Blue almost ran into him.

The small skeleton yelped and jumped back to give Fell and himself some space. A quiet moment flitted by as they both waited for the other to talk.

“What is it?” Fell finally asked.

Blue blinked at him and cleared his throat. It wasn’t until then that Fell realized that the smaller skeleton was shaking a little bit. For all his bravado, he was still very visibly nervous.

“I still … want to apply for the job,” Blue looked around fishing for the right words “at your shop … Sir”

“I already said No,” sighed Fell

“Yeah, but why? I mean … no offense … I didn’t even get to interview.” Blue grabbed at his book bag’s leather strap. “And … and I can be a good worker, Sir. Really, I can”

Fell had the feeling that if he didn’t deal with it right then and there, this guy would just be back the next day and he was already too tired to deal with that future possibility.

“Ok, interview time,” he growled.

“Now?” asked Blue looking at their surroundings, which were a barely lit and empty parking lot except for Fell’s car. This had not be covered at all in his looking for a job manual.

“PROBLEM?” asked Fell.

“No, not at all!” Blue waved his hands in front of him. He then reached inside his bag and pulled out a single piece of paper. “Here’s my Resume”

Fell took it. Read the single paragraph. Turned it around to check if he had missed anything then crumpled it up in his hand and tossed it over his shoulder.

Blue opened his mouth to complain but shut it right back up when Fell leaned closer.

“You have absolutely NO experience,” he sneered

“WELL!... Uh, No… Not recent experience ….” Admitted Blue with a light blush on his cheeks.

“A lemonade stand when you were 8 doesn’t count. Selling cookies door to door when you were 12 doesn’t count. Being the senior member of the Charity Committee in High School doesn’t count. An A+ rating on eBay since you were 18 doesn’t count.”

“Wow, you have a good memory” commented Blue.

Fell was taken a little aback by the compliment, but his glare didn’t leave his face “It’s part of my job. Have you ever had a REAL JOB?”

“By your definition … No … Not really.”

Fell leaned back and covered his eye sockets with his left hand. “You’re 20, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re attending the local Community College, correct?”

“I was.”

Fell stopped and looked at him. The guy looked like he just came over after finishing his classes. “Your Resume said that you were a student.”

“Well, as of yesterday I'm no longer one … sorry … I guess I didn’t update it.” The blue blush covering his face became more evident. He looked at his feet “I’m taking a year off from school”

Fell really didn’t want to ask. Heck, he would rather be home right at that moment sipping some wine and leaving passive aggressive comments on Facebook, but to his surprise, he heard himself ask “Why?”

Blue stayed quiet with his head down. Fell could see him fidgeting with his hands. He was ready to dismiss him and the whole thing again when Blue snapped his head back up “I'm doing it for the experience! Like you said, I have none! I thought getting this job would be a perfect way for me to get it!”

“I have no need for a kid to be getting in the way of everyone else,” said Fell “I’m sure you saw how busy it was when you were there, that’s not even as bad as it can get!”

“Oh, I been to your shop plenty of times! I know how crazy it gets in there!”

“You have.” It was intended to be a question but Fell couldn't help but state his doubt at the smaller skeleton ever being in his shop.

“Yeah! With my brother! He loves your coffee!”

Fell vaguely remembered another much taller skeleton monster being in his shop before, back when his brother took care of most of the orders, but he was sure he had never seen this one. There weren't a lot of skeleton monsters around in the area, so they were tended to stick out.

“Really … What is your usual?” asked Fell. He guessed it was probably something really sugary, or maybe he would surprise him and be

The blush and the fidgeting returned …. “I … don’t drink coffee …” Blue mumbled.

“What was that?” Fell was leaning closer again. This runt couldn’t have possibly said what he thought he had said.

“I … don’t … drink coffee,” said Blue louder. And he closed his eyes fully expecting a verbal backlash, but instead, he heard the sounds of heavy boots walking away from him. He opened one eye carefully and realized that Fell was already several feet away and unlocking his car.

“WAIT!! I really need this job!” he exclaimed as he ran to catch up to Fell.

“Don’t care,” said Fell opening his car’s door.

“BUT!”

Fell sighed in exasperation laced with tiredness and practically draped himself on the door. “Why would I hire someone that doesn’t appreciate coffee?”

Blue stopped a couple of feet away surprised by the question.

“Um … well ... it’s not that I don’t appreciate coffee… it’s just … not my thing” Blue shrugged sheepishly. Then he looked up with the biggest blue eyes Fell had ever seen “Maybe you can teach me to appreciate it?”

Fell felt something. He wasn’t sure what but it was different from murderous intent.

“I will work HARD! I promise!” insisted Blue sensing the door of opportunity opening a little bit. “Give me a chance to prove myself, if you’re sick and tired of me by the end of the day tomorrow, I won’t bother you again!”

Fell regarded him for a long time. So long that Blue started thinking that Fell was waiting for him to dust on the spot.

“Ok, fine, 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. A minute late and you’re not welcomed back”

Blue opened his mouth to possibly make some sort of annoying happy sounds but he clamped his hands over it when he saw Fell’s face. Instead, he just gave him a thumbs up.

“OK!! I’ll see you tomorrow then!” he said walking backward then turning around and jogging away.

“DON’T BE LATE!” yelled Fell after him “6:00 a.m. on the DOT!”

“YES BOSS!” answered Blue as he went around the corner.

Fell opened his mouth to correct him but he stopped himself. He would do that in the morning.


	3. Missed Connections

**Day 3 - Missed Connections**

 

Blue did not show up the next day, nor the day after that. Fell found himself feeling disappointed, which niggled at him more than he cared to admit. Alas, coffee and good business waited for no monster and he soon redirected his disappointment towards scaring away any other potential new employees.

Which annoyed his current employees who also agreed with them needing the help. Not that anyone would actually say anything about it because they really wanted to keep their jobs and limbs attached to their bodies.

For the sake of everyone’s sanity, his most senior employee after Red had left, a dragon monster named Lina, decided that enough was enough. After preparing herself with some extra cups of courage she walked up to her boss and suggested that maybe-possibly-by-any-chance he could let her run the interviews scheduled for that afternoon after closing. That way he could go arrange some supply deliveries for the shop because he was such a good-amazing-with-a-good-eye-for-discounts-monster. Pretty-please?.

Fell did not argue the point too much. In fact, he had only argued out of habit. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Lina’s judgment, it was more of a want to make sure he didn't end up with another cute hyper monster or human, that couldn’t even keep a simple promise.

But alas, Lina had made some good points and he conceded to let her handle the hiring. As long as she followed certain conditions, of course.

“They have to be able to work full time. I don’t need any part-timers” he said as he put on his scarf.

“Yes Mr. Fell,” said Lina looking at her clipboard, which already had a sheet of paper filled with all of his instructions and qualifications a new employee should have, written, signed and notarized by Fell.

“And it needs to be someone who can at least tell the difference between a Latte and an Americano,” said Fell over his shoulder as he walked over to the exit.

“Mmm-mmhhh”

“AND! They need to be punctual!” He said as he grabbed the door handle.

“Of course Mr. Fell.” Lina smiled at him from her spot on the counter where she was thankful he couldn’t see the tip of her tail twitching.

“AND…!”

“Oh no!” said Lina looking at her empty wrist and rushing from behind the counter “The market is closing in only two hours! You better go!”

She pushed her boss out the door before he could argue he actually had 4 hours before they closed - with a cheery chorus of: “Don’t worry, I have everything under control! Bye! Have fun! Don’t kill anyone!”

Suddenly Fell found himself outside with a door locking very politely behind him.

He grumbled a little bit, adjusted his long red scarf and stomped to his car. One just couldn’t find good help nowadays.

35 minutes later Fell found himself browsing the aisles of his favorite market. His basket was full of odds and ends for his own consumption since he rarely shopped for himself and often ate at the shop. One could only eat sandwiches and pastries for so long though. It was just another one of those things that brought his brother to the forefront of his mind. Out of the two of them, he was the one that cooked more often than not. Red was certainly no master chef but his food was still very good. Fell knew how to make a few pasta dishes, but lately, he just hadn’t had the time nor inclination to bother.

He took his time walking down the aisles. The monster he had stopped by to talk to regarding supplies for his shop was not available until a little later, so he figured he would just stay and pick a few favorite things so he could get them for free as part of his deal with the manager.

His mood improved as his basket contained more and more of the things he enjoyed. He had almost forgotten why his mood had taken a downturn lately when he heard a crash from the aisle to his right.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” he heard someone exclaim and he recognized the voice immediately. He hurried towards the end of the aisle he was in and then peeked around the corner. Sure enough, there was that young skeleton helping a feline employee put a couple of cereal boxes back on a display table.

Nothing had been broken and honestly, it looked like the crash had sounded much worse than it had been. Regardless, the smaller skeleton’s face was covered with a light blue blush and he looked mortified at the situation regardless of the employee’s assurance that it was “alright”.

Next to Blue there was a basket filled with sugary things like honey, cereal, and chocolate, along with some housekeeping odds and ends. The thing that Fell noticed most of all, however, was the jar containing a generic brand of coffee, which was - and totally nothing else - the reason what made him come completely around the corner and step into the aisle.

As Blue placed the last box in its proper place on the display and apologized to the employee for what seemed to be the 20th time, he looked up and spotted Fell at the end of the aisle. His usually big blue eyes shrunk to pinpricks and blushing even bluer than before, he turned on his heel to leave in the opposite direction, leaving his basket behind.

“Hm!” said Fell and he rushed down the aisle himself only slowing enough for him to pick up Blue’s abandoned basket. As he did so, he hit the display again, sending cereal boxes raining on the employee, who just let out a long-suffering sigh.

It wasn’t hard for Fell to catch up to Blue, his long legs gave him the advantage and it helped that the smaller skeleton was trying really hard to walk fast but not actually run. Fell soon managed to corner him next to an MTT Brand Jam display.

“You forgot this,” Fell said keeping his voice low and eerily calm as he brought up Blue’s shopping basket up to his face. Blue’s eyes first looked at the basket then turned his blue eye lights up to meet Fell’s red ones.

This simple gesture made a strange sensation dance again in the back of Fell’s mind. He quickly shoved it back into a mental dungeon and threw away the key.

“…. …. Thank you … “ Said Blue taking the basket back and letting it hang from both his hands. “Um … I meant to call but, well … I”

“It no longer matters,” said Fell leaning back and giving Blue the opportunity to escape if he wanted to. He looked around casually and spotted a few monsters that had stopped to gawk and were now way more interested in anything else in the store than his sudden .. uh … meeting with Blue. “We have already interviewed other more reliable monsters”

Blue flinched a little bit at the comment but didn’t argue.

“I must say that I was a bit surprised at your absence. You were so ... insistent” continued Fell holding his own shopping basket behind him in an attempt to look casual.

“Yeah …” Blue looked down at his basket. “I really did want to the job but, Paps was not …”

“Paps?” interrupted Fell.

“Sorry, that’s my brother. I had to stay home that day and like I said, I meant to call but you had said that I wouldn’t be welcomed back anyway and, it had already been a tough morning, and after I wasted your time I didn’t think you would …" Blue sighed.

Somehow Blue had managed to make himself look smaller. Fell regarded him for a long time. He really didn’t have any reason to show any mercy. Surely Lina had already found someone else by now.

….

Godammit. Why did he feel like he was the one that did something wrong?

“You should’ve called,” he said after a bit

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I won’t bother you ag….”

“But I guess I didn’t give you my number to do so…” continued Fell bringing out his phone.

“I’m sorry?” asked Blue confused

“I have a meeting in a few minutes, but I should be free in another hour or so. Are you?” asked Fell typing into his phone.

Blue started to gape but caught himself and rolled his shoulders back. “Um .. yeah! I should be able to! I live only a few minutes from here and I’m just doing some shopping for my brother right now and…”

“So ... dedicated to your brother." Fell commented quietly.

“Well! He’s currently … um … busy, so I’m told him I would take care of this” said Blue smiling brightly.

_Somewhere inside Fell's mind, a door opened anyway._

“Mh, ok. I’ll see you at my shop at 7?” asked Fell.

“Another interview?” asked Blue confused.

“Yes. Even though you pretty much blew the last one. I’m going to need some help doing inventory after I’m done here. If you can help me with that and not annoy me too much, then I’ll consider hiring you”

“Oh…!”

“Are you coming or not?”

”Yes!” exclaimed Blue “Thank you so much for the second chance!”

“I’m just making you keep your promises,” said Fell putting his phone away. “AND there is another condition.”

“… what is it?”

Fell grabbed the jar of cheap coffee with the tip of his fingers and placed it on top of the MTT Jam display. “Don’t buy that.”

“But that’s for my bro.”

“Look … eerr … Blue, right?” asked Fell and Blue nodded happily. “I’ll give you a bag of my house blend when you come to the shop. I simply can’t stand the idea of someone that likes my coffee drinking that sludge.”

“Ok! It’s a deal!” said Blue extending his hand in front of him. Fell took it and they shook hands. It surprised the older skeleton how strong Blue’s grip was. He found himself wondering what other surprises were hidden under that cheery demeanor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't have any story in mind when I wrote these prompts, so I'm making it up as I go along (I have some plot points I want to hit but I don't have an overreaching story arc in mind). So I still don't know how its going to end.


	4. Coffee Date

**Day 4 - Coffee Date**

 

Fell was not disappointed this time. Blue was waiting for him right outside his shop practically bouncing in place. He was a little surprised to see Lina right next to him and for a fraction of a second ... well, maybe a whole second, he worried about what the dragon might have said to Blue.

He parked his car next to the shop and walked up to them in a (he hoped) very casual manner. Blue waved at him happily the moment he had seen him. Lina, on the other hand, looked at him with the politely displeased expression she had perfected while working for him. She held up her clipboard as soon as he was within arm’s reach.

“Good evening Mr. Fell,” she said

“Good eve…”

Lina interrupted him by tapping her clipboard against his chest. “Here are the results of today’s interviews I managed to do before you sent me the text asking me to stop,” she said giving him a long, raised eye ridge look. She appreciated that Fell at least had the courtesy to look mildly apologetic about his behavior.

“Yes, well, thank you for your efforts” responded Fell taking the clipboard from her. “I will make sure to review them.”

Lina gave him a smile that recognized the bullshit in Fell's statement but was too tired to care about it. She had known Fell long enough to know when the skeleton monster had already made up his mind about something, even if he didn’t know it yet.

“I’ll be going then,” she said with a sigh “At least I didn’t have to stay as late as I expected”. She turned around and waved at Blue who had been keeping a respectful distance away. “Bye Blue! Nice to meet ya. Good luck!”

Blue waved back. “Bye Lina! Say hi to Hollow for me!”

“Thank you! I will!” said Lina before extending her wings and flying up. Right before she went over the building, however, she turned around and gave Fell a discreet thumbs up and mouthed the words “He’s cute.”

Now it was Fell’s turn to raise a bony eyebrow to his employee. Then he realized that Blue was still there and cleared his throat.

“Who’s Hollow?” he asked absentmindedly.

“That’s her kid's name,” Blue said tilting his head “You didn’t know?”

' _She has a kid?_ ' thought Fell as he adjusted his scarf. “Oh yes, of course, I did. C’mon lets get to work.”

An hour later Fell looked up from his numbers as he heard his phone buzz with a text from Lina.

[So, do we have a new employee? :>]

Fell put down the phone with a grunt and looked over at the open door to the storage area. There he could hear Blue humming to himself as he counted every single item in that room while Fell went over sales receipts and paid a few bills.

It hadn’t been until they had entered the shop that it occurred to Fell that he really hadn’t thought things through. He had called this an “interview”, but there really wasn’t much else to ask to see if Blue was right for his shop. He knew that Blue was of legal working age and, that he could do it full time. On the other hand, he also knew that the young skeleton had no experience whatsoever when it came to preparing and serving coffee, in fact, no real job experience at all which was a big letdown. So why was he bothering? He could’ve just let things be back at the market. Blue certainly had already taken it as not getting the job.

Sooo…

Well, Blue was very excited about the chance, that was clear. And that was a plus, right? And he did say he needed the job, so that meant he would try his best, right?

Right.

He tapped a long finger on his desk as he listened to Blue work for another minute. What was taking him so long anyway?

Suddenly, Blue stepped into view with a huge grin on his face. “DONE!” He announced holding the notepad Fell had given him with both hands.

A faint blush crossed Fell’s features as he been caught staring at the doorway. “… finally,” he huffed in self-defense. “If you are going to work here, you’ll need to learn to be more efficient. This shouldn’t have taken you this ...” He walked into the storeroom. “… long.”

Fell could only stare. The entire place had been reorganized. He could even tell that the shelves had been dusted.

“Sorry it took so long…” said Blue handing the notepad back to a stunned Fell. He started pointing at different handwritten columns that had been added to the original list. “I thought that if I organized it this way, it will be easier to do inventory in the future. This is how much there is of each item, and this column is for the stuff that has an expiration date within the next 2 weeks. And this is the stuff that can wait longer to be restocked. So… you can always order this stuff first and you have some leeway on this stuff, of course, I don’t know how long is the turnaround time between orders, so we may need to readjust the …”

Fell shook his head back into reality. “What are you going to College for?”

“Oh, I haven’t decided on a major yet,” shrugged Blue. “Paps just wanted me to keep up with my studies, so I been collecting credits.”

“Paps. Your brother?”

“Yeah.” Blue looked away pressing the tips of his fingers together.

Fell got the hint and looked at the notepad again. “Hm. There’s an error here.”

“Uh… what? But I double checked …” began Blue.

Fell walked over to a shelf and took a small bag of ground coffee and gave it to the younger skeleton, then he crossed off the total number for those bags and entered a new one. “There, now it’s correct.”

Blue looked at the bag in his hands then at Fell. “Thank you!”

Fell covered his mouth with the notepad. “Why don’t we take a break? I’ll make you samples of what we offer. That way you can learn the differences between the beverages we sell.”

“Does that mean …?”

“Let’s see how you do for a week,” said Fell turning around and leaving the storeroom “Don’t worry, I’ll pay you even though you should appreciate this one-of-a-kind training I’m going to give you. There are monsters who would give their right arm to …”

He looked at Blue over his shoulder. Blue stood there with his hands clasped over his mouth. His blue eyes in the shape of stars. Fell’s soul thumped against his rib cage.

“Huh… are you coming?” he asked trying really hard to keep his voice from breaking.

“Yes Boss!” said Blue saluting him with a fist over his soul and started to take a step forward when he was stopped with a long finger almost poking him on the nose.

“Don’t,” said Fell suddenly serious, “call me 'Boss'. ‘Mr. Fell’ will suffice.”

“Oh … ok.” Blue’s eyes returned to normal. “Thank you, Mr. Fell.”

Fell nodded and they both walked into the shop part of The UnderGround after locking the storeroom and the office.

Fell ended up making five different drinks for Blue that night. From regular coffee to a sugary cappuccino. None of them were to Blue’s taste but he drank all of them, even though Fell kept insisting that he didn’t have to since they were only for him to taste.

Their conversation had covered several subjects and to his surprise, Fell found himself being the one doing most of the talking, as Blue was just a natural at asking questions to get to know someone and a really attentive listener. However, by instinctual agreement, neither of them talked about their families.

“Are you ok?” asked Fell after noticing that Blue could hardly stay still in his seat.

“YEAH,” said Blue. “Never felt better. In fact, I may skip sleeping for the next week.”

“Newbie,” chuckled Fell finishing his own cup. “C’mon is almost midnight. I’ll give you a ride home.”

“Thanks, but I rode my bike over,” said Blue. “I bet I can make it there in 5 minutes.”

“Don’t you live by the market we met at earlier?”

“YEP.”

“Isn’t that at least an hour away by bike?”

“YEP!”

“5 minutes ….”

“YEP!” said Blue getting up and immediately falling to his knees. “As soon as I can feel my legs again,” he said from under the table.

Fell chuckled some more. “I’ll give you and your bike a ride home this time since you clearly can’t handle your caffeine yet.”

Blue got up and dusted himself off but he needed the table for balance. “Ok! Ok. I mean, yes, ok. Just this once.”

“Yeah, just this once” confirmed Fell, but he couldn’t help but hope that this wouldn’t be the last time.


	5. Texting

**Day 5 - Texting**

 

6:00 P.M. <[ Hey. ]

6:01 P.M. <[ U thre? ]

6:05 P.M. <[ U still ignoring me? ]

6:14 P.M. <[ Fine. I’m gonna fill up your inbox since u r such an ass ]

6:15 P.M. <[ I like ur ass btw ]

6:15 P.M. <[ Tiny. Like u ]

6:16 P.M. <[ Round like u 2 ]

6:27 P.M. <[ ass ass ass ass ass assss ass asss asss ass ass asss ass ass ass ass ass asss ass ass ass ass ass ass asss]

6:35 P.M. <[ LB said he was gonna be out till late ]

6:35 P.M. <[ Wanna v chat? ]

[V CHAT REQUEST DECLINED]

6:47 P.M. <[ Haha I kew it u r reading]

6:47 P.M. <[ Still hate me? ]

6:53 P.M. <[ :( ]

6:54 P.M. <[ I hate me too ]

7:21 P.M. <[ I miss u ]

7:22 P.M. <[ I miss YOU ]

7:23 P.M. <[ kssk,ssdksfdl sfdlksfdjsfdjksfdjsfdl ]

8:02 P.M. <[ U have pretty eyes did I ever tell u that? I miss em ]

8:04 P.M. <[ U really hate me that much ]

9:55 P.M. <[ Fell asleep. I think I dreamt of u. It was nice ]

9:57 P.M. <[ Sorry. ill stop ]

9:57 P.M. <[ fuck ]

10:13 P.M. <[ Sorry I wasnt there u know I love you ]

10:15 P.M. <[ I ]

10:15 P.M. <[ someting happened ]

10:16 P.M. <[ was in the hospital for a bit ]

10:16 P.M. <[nothing bad]

[ … ]> 10:16 P.M.

[ WHAT ]> 10:16 P.M.

[ WHEN ]> 10:16 P.M.

[ GDI YOU BETTER NOT BE LYING AGAIN ]> 10:17 P.M..

10:18 P.M. <[ Im not ]

10:18 P.M. <[ Swear I’m not ]

[ FUCK ]> 10:18 P.M.

10:19 P.M. <[ You broke it off. I didnt want pity ]

10:39 P.M. <[ …. ]

10:39 P.M. <[ hi? ]

10:45 P.M. <[ ok ]

12:43 P.M. <[ LB got home. He is doing laundry for some reasn. Asked me if I had any dirty socks. Took my entire collection. I think he’s drunk ]

12:48 P.M. <[ ok ]

12:48 P.M. <[ Gnite Red ]


	6. Kiss

**Day 6: A Sudden Kiss**

It was a little after 5:00 am when Blue sneaked out of the apartment he shared with his brother. He was by habit an early riser, but that night he hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. He felt fine, however. Maybe he was a little giddy and his mind was doing some acrobatics he wasn’t used to but, Blue doubted that would be a problem.

He hoped so, anyway.

On the plus side, with all that extra awake time, he had managed to clean the entire apartment and get the cooking done for the next couple of days. His brother wouldn’t have to worry about doing anything but recuperate during that time frame. And maybe - Blue continued to hope- it would even help improve his recent sour mood.

Blue crossed his arms as he guided his bike down a gentle hill. He loved the lack of traffic and people at this time of the day. Between the crispness of the early morning air and the quietness of a sleeping city hanging in the air, the world just felt full of possibilities. Blue felt a tinge of anticipation in his soul.

He could do it. He just needed to show his brother -and everyone else, really - that he could. He just needed to get that job for real and, and once he showed that there wasn’t anything wrong with him working to earn his own keep. Paps could quit his jobs and … well …

Blue placed his hands back on his bike’s handlebars as he reached a stop light.

Well … Paps could leave.

He did not look forward to THAT conversation. Paps could be a little hard to handle sometimes, especially once he made up his mind about something. Some would call him stubborn, the less kind ones would call him a word Blue did not want to repeat, not even in his head.

Blue didn’t like lying to his brother, and he assured himself for the 100th time that he wouldn’t have to do it for much longer. This whole thing was just temporary. Yeah, he would make it right …. He just needed a little longer.

The light changed to green. Blue took a deep breath and exhaled.

Right. Everything was going to be ok.

******

Spoiler alert: After 4 hours working the front of the store Blue felt like he was suffering a long, sleepy death.

In a way, he was lucky that it had been a busy morning so far. It had kept Fell distracted by orders and hopefully unaware of how woefully tired the younger skeleton felt. Thank the Stars for Lina, who had taken mercy upon him after hearing about last night and, had allowed him to take a short rest inside the front of the house storeroom.

As far as Blue was concerned, he hadn’t fallen asleep, but reality proved that he had by the sensation of falling as his head went past its upright threshold and hit the side of a shelf. The snorting sound he made had been rather undignified and the drool on the side of his mouth right down offensive to the young skeleton. He was glad he was alone in that small room because, otherwise, he would die of embarrassment.

He reached for his phone to check how long he had been in there but after patting himself over a couple of times, his groggy mind reminded him that he had put it in the cabinet under the cash register for safe keeping.

Frustrated, he rubbed his eye sockets and slapped himself gingerly to wake himself up. Hopefully, he hadn’t been in there too long. Yeah, maybe a few minutes tops.

He reached for the doorknob. Which didn’t turn, on the account that it was locked?

It was locked.

It. Was. Locked.

Ok. Fine. Ok. Ok. Ok.

Blue turned around and looked at the rest of the room. Two floor-to-ceiling shelves, a wooden box and a mop and bucket against the back wall. A single light hung from the ceiling and even THAT wasn’t even on because the switch was on the outside. WHY would someone put a switch on the outside of a room? WHY WOULD ANYONE lock the door to this room?

Not ok. Not ok. Not ok.

To keep himself from hyperventilating, Blue closed his eyes and concentrated on the sounds on the other side of the door. He could hear people talking and dishes clicking against each other. He mentally looked for a voice that sounded like Lina’s. Maybe if she was close she could signal her somehow.

He heard someone walking by and he decided to take a chance by knocking lightly on the door.

Nobody came.

Blue put a gloved hand over his mouth to keep himself from making more undignified noises. He knocked again a little louder to no avail. It looked like he would need to shout. He felt his entire face already burning with a blue hue.

He took a deep breath and whispered: “Lina”... “Um … Liiiiinnnnnaaa,” he cleared his throat. Obviously, a whisper wasn’t loud enough.

He took another more determined breath when he heard knocking. He looked at his hand. No, that hadn’t been him.

“Blue?” He heard Lina ask from the other side of the door. “Are you awake? Why did you lock the door?”

_Did he lock the door? He would never do that! Why would he ever do …_ he noticed the lock was on the inside of the door. Like they usually were. He reached over and turned the little knob to the unlocked position.

He opened the door slowly his eyes fixed on something in the floor in front of Lina.

“Well now I can see where your name comes from,” pointed out the dragon upon seeing his fierce blush. Her tone was friendly and not mocking at all, but Blue couldn’t help but feel like he was 10 times smaller than he was. “Hey, are you ok?”

“Yeah,” answered Blue still avoiding Lina’s eyes. “Thank you for the break. I, uh, guess locked the door without thinking about it.”

“Hm,” he heard the female dragon say but she didn’t do any follow up questioning. Instead, she leaned over and whispered “I would’ve let you rest more than 10 minutes but the boss is looking for you, so you better make your way over to his station. If he asks, tell him that you were getting some beans for me from the back.”

Blue blinked at her suddenly realizing what she was doing. “Ok. Thank you!” and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. He rushed out to the front of the house. His legs still felt wobbly but he DID feel a little better.

As Lina saw him walking away she rubbed her cheek. “Oh dear lord. The boss is going to eat him alive.”


End file.
